Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2013

The Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2013 aims to present the latest key statistics on development issues concerning the economies of Asia and the Pacific.

The Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2013 (Key Indicators), the 44th edition of this series, includes the latest available economic, financial, social, and environmental indicators for the 48 regional members of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This publication aims to present the latest key statistics on development issues concerning the economies of Asia and the Pacific to a wide audience, including policy makers, development practitioners, government officials, researchers, students, and the general public. Part I of this issue of the Key Indicators is a special chapter - "Asia's Economic Transformation: Where to, How, and How Fast?". Parts II and III comprise of brief, non-technical analyses and statistical tables on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and seven other themes. This year, the 2013 edition of the Framework of Inclusive Growth Indicators, a special supplement to Key Indicators is also included.

The statistical tables in this issue of the Key Indicators may also be downloaded in MS Excel format from this website or in user-specified format at SDBS Online. The statistical tables are complemented by a visualization tool that is intended to provide users with an alternative way to look at some of the development issues concerning the economies of Asia and the Pacific.

Developing Asia needs to make a significant qualitative leap in structural transformation and to focus on transferring labor from sectors of low productivity (typically agriculture) into sectors of high productivity;

But future transformation will most likely not resemble in pace and direction that seen in Japan and the newly industrialized economies during the second half of the 20th century, as the overall economic environment is very different today. The rest of developing Asia may not be likely to transform as quickly as this group;

Policymakers ought to focus on facilitating firms and workforces to develop the capabilities they need to manufacture new products, to enter new markets, and to move up the development ladder (i.e., to make and provide increasingly sophisticated and complex products and services);

Developments in agriculture will be key for Asia's future, in particular for the low-income economies. Agriculture has to "industrialize" (i.e., develop agribusiness and adopt modern methods) for the sector to achieve productivity levels similar to those in the economy as a whole; and

History suggests that manufacturing is important and that industrialization has been nearly essential for an economy to achieve high income levels.

Contents

Part I – Special Chapter: Asia’s Economic Transformation: Where to, How, and How Fast?

The special chapter on “Asia’s Economic Transformation: Where to, How, and How Fast?” analyzes the direction and pace of Asia’s transformation during recent decades and sketches the main contours of economic transformation that can be expected in coming decades. It highlights facts and insights that are important for developing Asia to consider in moving ahead: (i) agriculture needs to be modernized by deploying infrastructure, introducing technological improvements, developing agribusiness, and increasing linkages to global value chains; (ii) industrialization is a step that, in general, is difficult to bypass on the path to becoming a high-income economy; (iii) the service sector is already the largest source of employment and this trend will continue; (iv) basic education of high quality matters for industrial upgrading and, in general, for the development of new industries that can compete internationally; and (v) although it is important for countries to exploit their comparative advantages, some form of government intervention may be necessary and unavoidable to expedite economic transformation.

Part II – Millennium Development Goals

Part II contains the MDG indicators and short commentaries on progress toward achieving the specified targets. Two years before the MDG deadline in 2015, the region continues to make progress toward achieving the MDGs, although unevenly across the goals and economies. While most of the region has achieved significant progress in reducing poverty, improving access to universal primary education, and promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, the progress in reducing child mortality and malnourishment and improving maternal health will probably not suffice to meet the 2015 targets.

Part III – Regional Trends and Tables

Regional Tables in Part III present indicators in seven themes: People; Economy and Output; Money, Finance, and Prices; Globalization; Transport, Electricity, and Communications; Energy and Environment; and Government and Governance. Although economic growth in the region was subdued in 2012, the message all the regional tables reinforce is that of Asia’s growing importance in the world. The Asia and Pacific region now accounts for over half of the global population, more than one-third of global GDP (in purchasing power parity terms), and about a third of world exports. However, this growing importance brings with it growing concerns. The region now consumes two-fifths of world energy, continues to increase its emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and faces increasing traffic congestion and rising consumption of scarce resources.

Framework of Inclusive Growth Indicators

The Framework of Inclusive Growth Indicators 2013 (FIGI 2013) is the follow-up edition to FIGI 2012, which proposed a set of 35 indicators as measures of income and non-income outcomes of inclusive growth; the processes and inputs that are important to improve access to opportunities, social inclusion, social safety nets; and good governance and institutions.

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